Ramadan

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation making California the second state, after Washington in 2025, to formally recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays, joining Lunar New Year and Diwali on the state's holiday calendar. The move affects California's more than 1 million Muslim residents, allowing state employees to use existing paid time off to observe the holidays, which mark the end of Ramadan and honor Abraham's devotion to God, respectively. Because Muslims follow a lunar calendar, the dates shift yearly; Eid al-Fitr is expected around March 10 and Eid al-Adha around May 17 next year.

The law does not mandate statewide school closures, but allows local districts to declare days off if communities request it, and lets students cite state law when absent for the holidays. Advocates, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations' California chapter, framed the recognition as validating Muslim identity amid rising scrutiny of the community, citing a recent Pew survey showing 42% of Americans view Muslim Americans negatively.

Sheikh Ibrahim Yassine, a resident scholar at the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, said in an August 14 sermon that Muslims will "build America" on a foundation of Islamic moral civilization, contrasting it with what he called an American culture obsessed with "worldly life" and technology. The remarks, documented and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), also targeted President Trump, whom Yassine described as having a "sick mentality" over past comments about civilizational conflict.

MEMRI has tracked a pattern of controversial sermons at the institute. Yassine previously mocked Trump over Iran's succession process and praised the late Ayatollah Khamenei, while fellow scholar Mohammad Qazwini celebrated Sen. Lindsey Graham's death and urged prayers against Trump. Institute founder Hassan Qazwini has also pushed congregants to vote for Muslim political candidates and cast Zionist influence in elections as a threat to counter. The institute has additionally hosted memorials for Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah.